He was sent back to the real world. He leaned forward and panted. T-That was horrible. What were those creeps doing? They scared the shit out of me!
Hitori held his chest and got off the chair. He saw Reon cuddling with the covers behind him. He walked to the window above his bed and looked out to take some fresh air and process things.
All of a sudden? W-What? Did Onogi conspire them to kill me the moment they spot me? Just what the…
He pulled his head out of the window, closed it, and raced back to the console. "As expected," he muttered when he saw dozens of incoming messages.
He caught the latest one that flashed on the screen. 'How did you like it? I can't believe I killed one of the best players!'
So it is about popularity. He sighed and opened the inbox.
After reading through the messages, he realized what it was about.
Someone had put a bounty on him. Nobody had seen Ryu for a while, but when the bounty was announced, the players stood ready.
And the time came. Hitori did the mistake of logging in to the game without reading about the current situation in the game.
Fame came with a price. The price was not much, but he lost his drops when he was killed.
I guess this is the time. It is my call. He dropped his head and looked at the ceiling with a sense of lost hope. I guess retirement fancies me. It does.
He raised his hand, trying to touch or grab the ceiling, but no one knew. Even he did not know.
He heard some sort of a soft punch. Was his gaming life punching him? I even started hearing things…
But when he heard it again, he was sure it was not him hearing sounds.
The soft punch now sounded like a knock.
He leaned forward and jumped off the chair. He glanced at the window behind, then at her.
No one peeked at him from the window and she still slept like a dead body.
Hitori went to the door, he opened it as it went for his wand. Although he was not sure it was Kakashi, his heart did not race, surprisingly.
He took each step carefully, trying to make no sound as he walked.
The person knocked on the door again. Hitori was about to ask for identification when the person said:
"Hitori-san? You said it was an emergency, please open the door."
He stopped, and his foot landed on the floorboard like a log falling to the floor.
He did not stop after that. He was done with the 'identification' game.
His feet banged on the floor as he ran down the porch and opened the door, keeping his wand ready by the side.
He saw her face and his face behind her. They both were worried, but he looked pissed.
"Where is she?" Eya asked. "What happened to her?"
He nodded and pointed at the door. "She is inside, sleeping. I have stopped her bleeding but…" He turned and he was on his way to Reon.
Eya glanced at Kakashi as they started following him. He turned to lock the door when Eya whispered:
"Talk with him while I check her. Make him understand what he did was reckless, but don't shout at him."
He nodded without looking at her. "I will try not to be a dad and keep things simple," he said.
"Take a look at her for yourself," he said, opening the door for them.
Eya walked past him and Hitori stepped behind her. And she was not going to let him have that talk in that room, in front of Reon.
She lifted her hand and said, "You are waiting outside. Let me have a look at her like a fellow woman. So, men, you stay out of the room."
Hitori looked disappointed, but he nodded and walked out. He was hoping to complete the novel he had started, but when he saw Kakashi waiting for him on the sofa, he changed his path.
Hitori went to the kitchen instead. He knew Kakashi would turn and walk up to him as he sits on the chair, but that was better than approaching him.
Kakashi did turn around. He got off the sofa and walked up to Hitori. He showed like he needed a drink and that's why he went to the kitchen, not because he was ignoring Kakashi.
"You know we got to talk about, why are you running away? Does not suit the person who stormed his enemy's fort."
Hitori kept the glass on the kitchen workplace and looked at Kakashi. "I needed a drink," he said. "And before you go scolding me—"
"Scold? What do you think I am, your father? Heck no."
Hitori continued, "—I want you to know that he had Reon's brother, so she had to go. She asked for my help, I helped her."
"That is a good deed indeed, but the problem is not that."
"I am not sorry for what I did. If she is alive— or at least in a good condition– I am glad about what I did."
"Boy, I am saying why didn't you ask for help? What made you go alone? Did you want to look cool? Be the hero? Storming his FORST alone to save a girl."
"What the heck?" he scoffed, "No! Of course not!"
"Then you should have called for help! You should have waited till we arrive, we would have discussed the problem and found a safe way to rescue her.
"Charging without a plan was just reckless! Wait, how did you even get to the other side? Tell me you have not got yourself involved with the trouble."
Hitori sighed. They were alive, that was what mattered. "I know we had better options, but it was an emergency."
"That is exactly why you needed backup! Perhaps, we could have planned something different than a head-on attack."
"The time was clicking, Kakashi," Hitori said, "and she was falling into danger. He was torturing her with every passing second. Do you think I could call you with that much going on? Wait patiently for you to arrive, then keep calm– knowing she is dying– to plan… what? Plan what?"
"So you think what you did was not reckless?"
"I never said that."
"But you ARE implementing on that."
"I may be. So what? I did the best I could under the given circumstances."
Kakashi was now standing near the chairs. "Of course, we had a better option, but you were too in love to think straight—"
Hitori threw the glass in the sink and frowned. "I am not in love with her!"
"Your actions tell differently—"
"Guys!" Eya shouted. They saw her standing in the hall, walking towards the dining table. "Have you lost it? Keep it down, she is sleeping. Or take it somewhere else. You fight like mindless puppets."
Kakashi glared at Hitori before turning to Eya. Hitori took a deep breath and realized he was crossing the line. It took him another few minutes to reflect on his actions– he was not sorry though.
Kakashi walked down to the porch. "How is she?" he asked.
Eya, getting herself water, said, "She is fine. She might sleep for a day or so, but she will be okay. No long-term damage."
Kakashi nodded. "Nice to hear no one was heavily injured."
Hitori was. Although it was muscle pain, he was hurt pretty bad. But he decided to keep it to himself. Potions will make the pain go away, it is just muscle pain, how bad can it get?
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